Chris Christie 'expected boos' for attacking Trump at conservative summit

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Chris Christie booed after criticizing Trump at faith-based event

The former New Jersey governor received boos from the crowd at the Faith & Freedom Coalition event when he slammed former President Trump for what he called failed leadership.

Republican presidential candidate Chris Christie said Sunday that he "expected boos" for attacking former President Trump before a crowd of social conservatives in Washington, D.C. 

Christie, the former New Jersey governor and an ABC contributor, appeared on ABC’s "This Week" after addressing the Faith and Freedom Conference alongside other GOP presidential candidates Saturday. 

"People understand that folks need to take responsibility for what they do. And my message to the folks of Faith and Freedom, which did get some good reaction, too, but of course, I expected the boos," Christie told ABC host Jonathan Karl. "That is predominantly a Trump crowd, but they need to hear the truth to that. You know, character is the single most important element of a president of the United States, because you can't know what every, every issue is going to come across the president's desk." 

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Republican presidential candidate and former Governor of New Jersey Chris Christie delivers remarks at the Faith and Freedom Road to Majority conference at the Washington Hilton on June 23, 2023 in Washington, D.C.  (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

At the conference, Christie closed out his speech by arguing that he is running for president because Trump has "let us down" and is "unwilling to take responsibility for any of the mistakes that were made, any of the faults that he has and any of the things that he’s done and that is not leadership." 

"That is a failure of leadership," he added, drawing boos from the crowd and some applause. "You can boo all you want. But here’s the thing, our faith teaches us that people have to take responsibility for what they do. People have to stand up and take accountability for what they do." 

Former President Trump speaks during the Road to Majority's Faith and Freedom policy conference in Washington, D.C., on Saturday, June 24, 2023. (Nathan Howard/Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Christie, who formally announced his 2024 presidential bid about three weeks ago, claimed Sunday to already be in third place in New Hampshire just four points before Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who he says has "been in the race for a longer time and is supposed to be the co-front-runner." 

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"I listened to Donald Trump's speech last night, he had the audacity to say that he got indicted for us. Now, I don't know how it benefited the American people for him to take highly sensitive intelligence and secret documents out of the White House," Christie said Sunday. "Donald Trump says that's for us, and it's absurd the same way he has absurdly claimed in the last week that he still won the 2020 election."

Republican presidential candidate and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis waves as departs the stage after delivering remarks at the Faith and Freedom Road to Majority conference at the Washington Hilton on June 23, 2023. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

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"He is a three-time loser," Christie said in the appearance on ABC of Trump. "We do not need our party to go to a fourth loss because Joe Biden, in my opinion, John, is an awful president, and we can't afford to have him from age 82 to 86 in the White House or even worse, have Kamala Harris assume the presidency. That's the stakes here. It's not about whether you think Donald Trump has been treated fairly or not by the media or by elements of the Justice Department."